I am allowed to say that jumper was beautiful… just like you? I’m allowed to tell you more than any kid I have ever coached your impact on me…YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND? I’m I allowed to tell you that you willingness to be more than a basketball player is what has always impressed me the most? I’m I allowed to remind you of the day we met? How your mother would sit in the stands and watch you train as a post player as a 4th grader? LOL…Do I have to tell you how fast time passes? How I loved watching your brother play the best sport ever invented. Do I have to tell you I have always favored you? AND ENJOYED EVERY MOMENT DOING SO! But have you ever asked why I favored you the most? Have you ever thought why? …has it ever crossed your mind? Do you know your mother asked me not to compliment you in front of other girls? Do you know why so many didn’t understand why I loved you so much? It’s because they didn’t know how fabulous you were….FAB EGGENSCHWILER.
You played your last game tonight and your heart is hurting. You can’t believe it’s all over. But what you don’t understand, is that it has all just begun. A new beginning. A new journey that started when we crossed paths 8 years ago. It’s when I knew you were different. You were not like other kids…dancing was your passion then. But you made time to work at your basketball game. You played on the “B’ team and was that was okay with you because you loved the game. You made friends with everyone, while knowing your beauty was a threat to all. You mastered the art of sport, academics and friendships. You have pride in being a Swiss Miss… everything about you is right… everything about you is good, sweet and caring. Did you know you get that from your mother and belief from your father? Your true beauty comes from them. It’s a beauty that goes beyond basketball and physical beauty. It a beauty that we all talk about, but find so hard to find. That inner beauty; that only goodness , exposes and reveals. They gave you the best gift of all, the gift of love. It why I love you so much … it why I cared about you so much…why I rooted for you always…MORE!. It why I was always hoping more for your than most…it’s why I love you Fab.
You saved your best for last, this year. You are two year captain…nobody gets to be captain 2 years at Red Bank Catholic.. well nobody except you.. You never cared about stats… but rather you cared about teammates. You loved being a winner not a star. You always gave more of yourself when it would have been far easier to give less…. Tonight I am sad, because me and you have been a team… A kind of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST… YOU THE BEAUTY AND ANGEL and me the foul mouth beast, learning from your kind hearted ways. ….too say I love you is a insult to the word…. what I feel about you, I will never be able to be put into words, SO I WON’T TRY….. FAB EGGENSCHWILER I still can’t pronounce you name correctly… but all I can say is this…FAB, I ALREADY FEEL LIKE DOING ALL THIS AGAIN… WITH YOU….. JUST YOU!
